Injured Toll Road worker worried about his job

If lease is approved, will work be there for recovering employee?

If lease is approved, will work be there for recovering employee?

February 26, 2006

Charles "Chuck'' Raven fell down the basement steps Jan. 11 at his Mishawaka home. He landed flat on his back on the concrete floor, cracking a vertebra. He couldn't move, so an ambulance took him to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka. From there, he went to Memorial Hospital, where a neurologist and other doctors took care of his injuries. Raven is in a Chicago hospital now, where, among other things, he is learning to use a walker. His wife, Sherry, said it will be months before they know how much recovery he will have. As if he doesn't have enough to worry about, the Indiana Toll Road employee faces uncertainty over his job -- and his insurance -- as the Indiana General Assembly contemplates leasing the highway to foreign investors. "We're very concerned about that,'' Sherry said. Her 55-year-old husband has worked for 28 years in the Toll Road's building maintenance department. The General Assembly is considering leasing the Toll Road to Statewide Mobility Partners, owned by Cintra-Macquarie, a Spanish-Australian consortium. The lease agreement mandates SMP to interview all employees interested in continuing their jobs on the Toll Road. Anyone not hired "will be provided opportunities elsewhere in state government,'' according to a summary of the lease agreement. But what does that mean for an injured worker like Chuck Raven, one who won't be able to return to work for a long time? Sherry said the doctors have warned them that it might take six months to a year before they know what his limitations will be. Also, depending on the extent of his injury and his degree of recovery, he might not be able to do the work he did before. According to Toll Road Director Mike McPhillips, building maintenance workers do a variety of chores that include sweeping, cleaning drains, washing windows, etc. Will either SMP or the state have a job for Chuck? If not, what will happen to his health insurance? His disability insurance? "We're like in limbo,'' Sherry said. "We don't know what's going to happen if they authorize this lease." McPhillips said Chuck remains a state employee, so his benefits won't change. But what if SMP decides it can't use him with his physical limitations? Will he still be a state employee? Presumably, Chuck would remain on the state's disabled list for the foreseeable future. Gov. Mitch Daniels has said repeatedly that workers not hired by SMP would be offered jobs elsewhere in state government. Will those jobs be in northern Indiana or elsewhere in the state? Sherry said she has worked for 17 years at Holy Cross College, where she is an administrative secretary. Their house is paid for. They don't want to move, she said. McPhillips said he has been traveling up and down the 157-mile Toll Road since September trying to tell the workers what might happen if a lease is approved. What will happen to McPhillips' job? "Who knows?" he responded. He said his title is "deputy commissioner, district director of the Toll Road district.'' If the highway is leased to SMP, he said, "I would assume there will be a new person in this position.'' The proposed lease agreement mandates the lessee to interview all 573 current Toll Road employees. Chances are, many of them would be hired by SMP. Chuck is on temporary disability right now, Sherry said, and is benefiting from the Family Leave Act, so he is receiving some income. And she expects his insurance to cover most of his medical costs, even though Memorial was an out-of-network hospital for Chuck. "The statement I got from Memorial for the eight days he was there cost more than my house cost," Sherry said. All they can do for now is keep their fingers crossed. Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.Nancy J. Sulok Commentary Nancy J. Sulok is a Tribune columnist.